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Amazon Gets ‘Last Rites’ From FTC as Antitrust Complaint Looks Imminent (Maria)
The author writes, “After a years-long Amazon probe that collected millions of documents and conducted dozens of interviews, the Federal Trade Commission next week will meet with Amazon representatives before likely filing one of the agency’s biggest antitrust lawsuits yet, Politico reported. Known as a ‘last-rites meeting,’ these discussions could serve as Amazon’s last chance to dodge an FTC lawsuit that Bloomberg has described as ‘the Big One.’”
Defending Bodily Autonomy Is Real Child Protection (Laura)
From The Intercept: “In truth, everybody, including those who most cynically use children as political props, wants to protect children. From what, by whom, and by what means — there lies the rub. For conservatives, children need protection, but they don’t have rights; ‘parental rights’ are paramount (except if the parents support their queer kids, don’t worship a Christian god, or are otherwise ‘woke’). Liberals and progressives proclaim the rights of the child. But while they want to protect children’s safety, they are ambivalent about defending children’s rights.”
Post-GOP Walkout, Oregon Elections Chief Says Lawmakers With 10 or More Absences Can’t Run Next Term (Reader Steve)
The author writes, “The 10 Republican state senators in Oregon who racked up more than 10 unexcused absences during a walkout in the most recent legislative session can’t run for reelection in 2024, the state’s elections chief said Tuesday. Oregon Secretary of State LaVonne Griffin-Valade made the announcement in a news release to clear up confusion over how reelection rules would affect those senators.”
The West’s De-Risking Strategy Towards China Will Fail, Says Chris Miller (Sean)
The author writes, “Amid high tensions with China and the steep cost of confrontation, Western leaders have adopted a buzzword to describe their strategy: ‘de-risking.’ This involves Acontinuing to roll out tech and investment restrictions on China, but coupling them with high-level summitry and calls to keep trade flowing. The aim is to limit the risk of escalation in both the political and economic spheres. It is unlikely to work.”
Meta Is Training Its AI on the Bible and Other Religious Texts (Al)
The author writes, “The parent company of Facebook and Instagram says it has developed an AI-powered text-to-speech technology that can identify over 4,000 languages. The goal, Meta says, is to preserve the world’s languages, and the tech giant is using the Bible and other religious texts to do it.”
Wildfires Emit Potent Climate-Warming Organic Particles (Mili)
The author writes, “Researchers found that wildfires are causing a much greater warming effect than has been accounted for by climate scientists. The work, which focuses on the role of ‘dark brown carbon’ — an abundant but previously unknown class of particles emitted as part of wildfire smoke — highlights an urgent need to revise climate models and update approaches for the changing environment.”
Galaxy From the ‘Teenage’ Universe Reveals Its Water Map for the 1st Time (Dana)
From Space.com: “For the first time, scientists managed to develop a map of water distribution in a galaxy that existed when the 13.8-billion-year-old universe was just a cosmic teenager. The galaxy, designated J1135, is located around 12 billion light-years from Earth and is therefore seen as it was less than 2 billion years after the Big Bang.”
